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Dew claws

Rod posted this on his Cavalierhealth Facebook page -- very very interesting!! It really is a must read as so many dog owners, breeders and vets remove dewclaws. Most of us probably have dewclaws removed on our cavaliers. This article suggests this should never be done!!! In essence, it is like cutting the thumb or a finger off your own hand.

As the article notes, dewclaw accidents are very very rare -- and if nails are kept properly trimmed, shouldn't ever really have a chance to happen.

In some breeds, removing dewclaws is actually a showing fault -- so why are they required in some breeds if they are theoretically a 'problem'

They are often removed very cruelly as well -- with no anaesthesia.

How it came to be accepted to amputate parts of anatomy as a norm -- -- just beggars belief, really. Sad how we chop off dewclaws, declaw cats (which is the anatomical equivalent of chopping off the end joint of your finger, as the claw is part of that joint in a cat!), cut off tails, slice off sections of dog's ears and wire their ears into cages to make them look pointy (eg with dobermans which have floppy hound ears in reality!)... sometimes we are not dog's or cat's best friend at all.

Funny that this has been brought up....my rottie just tore his dewclaw off. Very painful and bloody. Poor thing, I am not sure how he did it but I think it caught in the deck flooring as he was tearing around the yard. Most of my dogs have their dewclaws and I try to keep them short. Only my 'impulsed buy' dog has hers taken off.

I also have read that the dew claw is an important acupuncture point location. I asked a couple of acupuncture specialists about the effect of removing these claws, and they said that they can work around the problem, but ideally, from an acupuncture standpoint, it would be preferable to not remove them.

Dew claws on dogs appear to be very vulnerable to me. Our cat kept his, and I have to trim his claws, including his dew claws, and they can be difficult to get a good grip upon because their connecting tissue is so flexible.